From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has successfully concluded the pilot phase of its Automated Excise Register System (ERS), which has officially gone live at three key excise facilities across the country: British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) PLC in Oyo State, International Tobacco Company (ITC) Limited in Kwara State, and Leaf Tobacco & Commodities Nigeria Ltd in Kaduna State.
These factories were deliberately chosen as pilot sites in recognition of their strategic importance to Nigeria’s excise sector and their capacity to provide a strong foundation for the nationwide rollout.
The formal activation of the ERS follows a series of extensive field activities undertaken by the Service, which included rigorous User Acceptance Testing (UAT), system validation processes, and comprehensive hands-on training engagements with both Customs officers and excise factory personnel.
The pilot phase, which was conducted between July and August 2025, served as a proving ground for the new digital platform.
A statement by the National Public Relations Officer, Assistant Comptroller of Customs Abdullahi Maiwada, disclosed that notable achievements from the pilot phase included the attainment of a 75% efficiency score during UAT at BATN, the successful integration of production and reporting systems across the factories, and strengthened collaboration between the NCS and factory management teams.
With the commencement of live operations, all excise-related transactions at the three factories will now be managed exclusively through the ERS. This includes recording production figures, computing excise duties, and generating statutory reports. The adoption of the platform is expected to drastically reduce reliance on manual documentation, eliminate inconsistencies in data reporting, and enhance transparency across the excise value chain. Ultimately, this transition is a crucial step towards building a more accountable and technology-driven excise administration framework.
Consequently, the insights and lessons drawn from the pilot phase will provide a solid blueprint for the system’s nationwide rollout. It is also pertinent to note that the ERS stands as a central pillar of the Nigeria Customs Service’s broader Trade Modernisation Project. In its next phases, the ERS will be extended to cover other excise-regulated industries, including beverages, spirits, and additional segments of the manufacturing sector.
The NCS calls on industry operators and stakeholders to embrace this noble reform and provide constructive feedback as the system is expanded nationwide. The Service also seeks stakeholders’ support in building a more robust and transparent excise regime that fosters compliance, enhances operational efficiency, and guarantees sustainable revenue growth for the Federal Government.
